Overwhelmed or an Overcomer?

This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 

 Who is it that overcomes the world? 

Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

(1 John 5:4-5 NIV)

When we feel overwhelmed, we need to remember we are an overcomer.  When we made Jesus the Lord of our life, we became new creations in Christ, the Holy Spirit now resides in us and by faith we became children of God. This same spirit that rose Jesus from the dead now resides in us, is there any battle that we can fight that we wouldn't be victorious in?  If God would give His only Son as a perfect and blameless sacrifice, is there really any situation we could not endure? Jesus said it best himself... 

"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.

But take heart, because I have overcome the world."

(John 16:33 NLT)

There are times when I look at my children and my heart feels like it could burst from the amount of love I have for them, and yet it's nothing compared to God's love for His children.  There's this amazing love that God has for us, that I can't even begin to imagine. I'm in so much awe of His love for me, one of a few billion people on this earth and yet the Creator of the Universe knows my name, He knows everything about me, He knows my thoughts, and He still loves me.  What I think of love cannot even be compared to God's love for us - I mean God IS love, He created it, He knows it and He doesn't withhold it.  

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son

into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.

This is real love - not that we loved God,

but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

(1 John 4:9-10 NLT)

So this amazing, loving God - that sent His Son to take away my sins - He didn't do all this for me to be overwhelmed by life's challenges, to live in despair, or live fearfully.  No this awesome God, full of compassion, mercy and grace gave me everything I need to live as an overcomer: a life where battles may be fought, but the victory will always be mine, because I'm an overcomer!

 Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; 

do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. 

I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; 

yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice.

                                         (Isaiah 41:10 Amplified) 

Flesh vs Spirit

So you, my son, be strong (strengthen inwardly) in the grace (spiritual blessing) that is [to be found only] in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:1 AMP)

When I first read this verse in the NIV, I wanted to know more, what did Paul mean by saying being strong in grace, so I dug a little deeper and discovered the Amplified which clarified this a bit more and then found in Hayford Bible Handbook that the Spiritual blessings are defined as grace, mercy, peace and even life itself, reside in Him (Christ) and are derived from Him [2 Tim 1:1-2, 9-10, 13, 16, 18; 2:1].

Upon accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior we became new creations IN Christ. That means our inward self is new, clean, made of God for God with only one desire to serve God. Which as you know puts ourselves in constant conflict with our flesh, our flesh is of this world - and remember who is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) so our flesh wants everything that is unclean and against God's very nature. How often have you sat torn between doing one thing and another, sometimes it's something that seems so insignificant - for example: so many times I sit down and say I should read my Bible, but what's on TV or let me check the internet (this is classic Flesh [worldly] vs Spirt [holy]). The battle is ongoing 24/7, that's why we were told about our Armor of God and how to use it - we can't win if we're not prepared for the battle (Ephesians 6:12-18).

I believe Kenneth A. Hagin said it best, "Man is a spirit, he has a soul, and he lives in a body.".  If you follow the link, you can read all the scripture that explains each part of that statement and if you can, I highly recommend reading his book, 'How You Can be Led by the Spirit of God'.  To break it down even further, we are a spirit (new creation in Christ), we have a soul (our mind), and we have a body (our flesh). That's why it's so important to renew our minds with God's Word - we have to re-train our minds and take control of our flesh!

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2 NKJV)

Notice how Paul told us to not be conformed to 'this world' - this world belongs to the devil and we are not of this world, so that's why we must immerse ourselves in God's Word.  We're surrounded by a world of decay and immorality and unless we acknowledge this and take action, we will succumb to the flesh.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. (Galatians 5:22-26 NLT)

I admit this is something I struggle with, even sitting down to write my blog, I feel God's leading to write, but I find other things to do (fleshy laziness). I know God's will is for me to write these posts and yet I can always find an excuse; can I share with you that when I do write, I almost always get a response from someone that they needed this or I get blessed with something I've been praying for - obedience to God's Word isn't just so we can win against our flesh, it's so God can bless us and others as well. We are Christ's Ambassadors, we are to be the example - when Jesus was in the desert for 40 days and the devil tempted His flesh - Jesus responded each time with the greatest weapon, "It is written...". Jesus used scriptures to defeat the devil and we have the same arsenal at our fingertips and that's how we can defeat our flesh.

Satan tempts Jesus Matthew 4:1-11

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]. [Matthew 12:37] (Proverbs 18:21 AMP)

Renewing our minds with God's Word changes our thinking and our response to situations. When we then speak God's Word over our life and over our circumstances; we begin to speak praises and thanksgiving to God, it becomes second nature. And this is how we have been given the same power over our flesh; it IS the power of life or death.

Enlarge our Hearts

2 Peter 1:3

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.”

Everything we need to live our lives for Christ has been given to us, when we were saved and became a new creation in Christ. ”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  2 Corinthians 5:17 Our dead spirit became new, alive, so like a newborn baby must be nourished and fed to grow and develop into a mature adult. We must also nourish and feed our new spirits with the Bread of Life, the word of GOD. We were created in God’s own image (see Genesis 1:26-27), our spirit (God’s own image, not my physical body) has the capacity and ability to love as Christ loved us, our spirit or hearts can be enlarged and increased to love all!

“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Ephesians 3:17-19

I love the Amplified version of this scripture, read this and let it really sink in:

“May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!” What an awesome prayer we can pray over ourselves!

God wants our hearts to be enlarged so that we can receive the outpouring of blessings he has for us, if our hearts are hardened and narrowed, we are unable to receive and grow, thus unable to share our hearts with others. A narrow rigid heart has fear and selfishness, where as an enlarged heart is fearless and selfless. When you live in fear, you are not having faith, but the greater your faith, the larger your heart! "But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?" Psalm 56:3-4

We are to read the word of God, feed on it, not just read a verse or chapter, but read it, study it, think about it, seek and pray for understanding. We are to pray, talk to God have communion with him and not just when we need something. Share your heart with Him and get to know him intimately, pray that he will enlarge your heart, soften your heart and keep your heart tender to God, His word, and others. He loves you and longs to spend time with you. Give him praises of thanksgiving, thankful for all that we do have and have been given, every day is a new day to serve God and to share God’s love with others. 

“When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Mark 10:14-15

A child believes and receives without difficulty, because they are open, as we age, we harden our hearts, our thoughts, and we adapt to the world around us, by reasoning and rationalizing. But we can receive so much more than we could ever imagine with our spirit than our minds even know to ask.“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20 A child doesn’t think about “what if’s” they just accept what they are told. While our minds try to reason with the promises that God has given us, we try to make things impossible by what we know, instead of imagining GOD's limitless abilities. How beautiful it is to have childlike faith, pray for that kind of faith.